GUNS Magazine October 2013 Digital Edition - Page 22

the other olD West repeaters wInchester may have enjoyed the most success In the market, but the “red w” had many comPetItors. lsewhere in this issue is my article on Winchester’s 19th century lever guns and the vast array of black powder cartridges developed to go with them. As synonymous as the name Winchester has become with Old West rifles and carbines, there were many other repeaters around then too. Companies with names like Burgess, Bullard, Colt, Evans, Whitney Kennedy, Marlin and others produced repeating rifles and carbines in an effort to compete with Winchester. magazines beneath their barrels and exposed hammers. At least the Colt Lightning was a pump action, whereas Marlins and Kennedys were also lever actuated. One other factor shared by all Winchester’s competitors was a particular cartridge. It was the .44 WCF, although the other companies chose to label their repeaters otherwise. Marlin was the outfit that came up with the .44-40 moniker that we all use nowadays. They weren’t about to label their guns “Winchester Centerfire.” Colt just put a big “.44 CAL” on their Lightnings. Kennedy stamped theirs “.44 CAL C.F.” meaning centerfire. The first competitor with Winchester in regards to a repeating lever gun was a collaboration between Andrew Burgess, a firearms designer, and Eli Whitney, a manufacturer. The latter man viewed a prototype developed by the former and together Three of Winchester’s primary competitors during the late 1800s they decided to include (from front to rear) the Whitney-Kennedy, Colt Lighting, and buck Winchester’s Marlin Model 1894. The first two are .44-40s and the last is a .38-40. premier position. 22 The fact that Marlin lever guns (starting with the Model 1889) flung empty cases to the right instead of straight up was considered a selling point. E mike “Duke” venturino Photos: Yvonne venturino Duke has fired a friend’s Whitney-Kennedy with its odd S-shaped lever and found it awkward. Some such as Marlin were reasonably successful to the point that their basic designs are still being produced today albeit in somewhat altered forms. Others such as the Burgess “wrist-pump” rifles (and shotguns) are mere footnotes to repeating arms history. Winchester’s basic concept was simple. Six Winchester models from 1866 to 1894 had tubular magazines hung beneath the barrel, were loaded via a port on the action’s right side, and contained exposed hammers. Burgess, Colt, Kennedy and Marlin repeaters all were knock-offs of Winchesters in one way or another. All had tubular This is a Burgess “wrist-pump-action” .44-40 belonging to one of Duke’s friends. It is functioned by pulling backwards on the handle on the stock’s wrist. As they developed their new lever gun Mr. Burgess and Mr. Whitney incorporated a patent for a cartridge lifter belonging to Samuel V. Kennedy. Thusly the name “Kennedy” was stamped on the new rifles and carbines along with “Whitneyville Armory” but for some unknown reason Burgess has been left out. Hence these guns are known to collectors today as Whitney-Kennedys. They were made both as sporting rifles and as saddle ring carbines with 24- and 20-inch barrels respectively. Both octagon and round barrels were options for rifles but only round for carbines. Two shapes of levers are found on Whitney-Kennedys. One was a traditional type finger loop and the other is an odd S-shaped lever. A friend owns a Whitney-Kennedy with the S-lever, which I have fired some. It is very awkward to someone used to finger loop levers. W W W. G U N S M AG A Z I N E . C O M • O C TO B E R 2 0 1 3